Find the unpopulated header CN6. The pins TXD, RXD, VCC and GND pins are marked. You can solder on a 4-pin header and use a TTL-232R-3V3. See next section.

−

Anyone who wants a cable please add his name to the lists below.

+

= The Serial Converter =

−

'''List of developers who want a prebuilt serial cable:'''

+

{{Level Shifter}}

−

*georg

+

=Using a USB Plug to form a friction-fit connector (NOT RECOMMENDED)=

−

*jonli447

+

{{Postit|Pin Header| I blew out a fuse on my KuroBoxPro by using this method, consider soldering in a pin header instead <br>[[User:Ramuk|Ramuk]] 18:13, 18 August 2007 (CEST) Epilogue- We have seen a 2nd case of frictions pins leading to a fuse-blowing short. The friction-fit method seems to have some consistent risks!<br>[[User:TimSmall|TimSmall]] 14:03, 13 April 2008 (CDT) Third case... The contact spacing for USB plug are not quite the same as for the Linkstation Serial port, also the width isn't quite the same, so it's easy to short pin-to-pin or pin-to-chassis.. [[Use a Nokia Serial Cable on an ARM9 Linkstation |I soldered the serial wires direct to the board instead...]]

# From the outset, '''consider using the more secure method''', such as soldering a standard or angled 4-pin header instead of the friction-fit method. '''We now have two well documented cases of this method leading to a blown fuse.'''

+

# You will need an old USB-plug (Female, Type A). I used two from USB-extender-cables and the rest from female-USB-connectors that i directly ordered in a shop.

+

# You will also need something as thick as 1 mm. This can be wood, plastic or the latest flyers you collected by going out at the weekend. We used a [http://www.neonixie.com/prototyping/ECS1/ecs1.jpg Eurocard] which we broke in Pieces (4 rows * 9 holes)

+

=== Prepare the USB-Plug ===

+

Regardless of which way you use, you will have to make the usb-plastic part a little smaller....you also will have to get rid of all parts so that it looks like the next picture.

+

[[Image:Usb_connector_parts.JPG|200px|thumb|right|Prepare the USB-Plug]]

+

==== If you are using one from an extender cable ====

+

Best would be to use a grinder. Do not hesitate to destroy the cables. It is recommended to remove everything so that you can solder the cables from the phonesync-cable directly to the pins.

−

'''List of kurobox.com-contest winners that will get a prebuilt serial cable:'''

+

==== If you have bought the part directly ====

−

*russk

+

Just open the metal-case and use a grinder to make it look like the picture. You won`t have to remove any glue or cables.

−

*tampakuro/kuroguy

+

−

*lyakh

+

−

Revogear does not respond to any mails anymore, so waite decided to use the donations to buy LS Pros for these guys instead.

+

+

== Checking the cable/plug ==

+

Best with a Voltmeter. To go completely safe test from the pins for the yellow + orange wires. The green one + shield can be tested from the pin on the other side.

−

'''List of user who want a prebuilt serial cable:'''

+

== Solder the phone sync cable to the USB-plug ==

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* khisanth

+

You will have both read and write access if you solder it that way.

−

* cakalapati

+

−

* MichaelWeiser

+

−

* mesterS

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−

* ?

+

+

In this picture: Green is GND, Yellow is RX (as in "data entering the LSPro") and Orange is TX (as in "data coming from the LSPro"). The not connected terminal is VCC.

−

----

+

<font color=red> When connecting a modified USB type-A female plug like the one shown here to a purchased USB/TTL level adapter,

−

Here some pictures from the build-process (mindbender had fun with it)<br>

+

note that the YELLOW cable shown here (RX = data to be received by the LSPro) connects to the TXD cable (= data transmitted from the attached computer's serial/USB port) which is ORANGE in the recommended TTL-232R-3V3 cable from FTDI, and LSPro TX (ORANGE here) connects to RXD (YELLOW) from the USB/Serial port of the attached computer. (Connecting yellow to yellow and orange to orange gives no signal!) Note that the cable supplied with the SCON-KIT/PRO for the Kurobox/Pro has a crossover of its white and red RX/TX cables so the TX pin at one end connects to the RX pin at the other.</font>

−

[[Image:Serial_cables_LS_Pro_some_cables.JPG]]<br>

+

−

I opened all FutureDial Cables to check if all cables used the same color-coding + Profilic-Chip:<br>

+

−

[[Image:Profilic_chip_check1.JPG]]<br>

+

−

[[Image:Profilic_chip_check2.JPG]]<br>

+

−

Prebuilt cables will use a heat-shrink-tube to make the cables more stable.

+

−

[[Image:Four_finished_cables.JPG]]<br>

+

−

----

−

== The Serial Converter ==

−

{{Level Shifter}}

−

+

{| width=100%

−

=Using a USB Plug to form a friction-fit connector=

+

−

{{Warning| I blew out a fuse on my KuroBoxPro by using this method, consider soldering in a serial port header instead [[User:Ramuk|Ramuk]] 18:13, 18 August 2007 (CEST)}}

+

−

1) You will also need an old USB-plug (Female, Type A). I used two from USB-extender-cables and the rest from female-USB-connectors that i directly ordered in a shop. <br>

+

−

2) you will also need something as thick as 1 mm. This can be wood, plastic or the latest flyers you collected by going out at the weekend. We used a [http://www.neonixie.com/prototyping/ECS1/ecs1.jpg Eurocard] which we broke in Pieces (4 rows * 9 holes) <br>

+

−

<br>

+

−

+

−

=== Prepare the USB-Plug ===

+

−

Indifferent which way you use, you will have to make the usb-plastik part a little smaller....you also will have to get rid of all parts so that it looks like the next picture.

+

−

[[Image:Usb_connector_parts.JPG|200px]]

+

−

==== If you are using one from an extender cable ====

+

−

Best would be to use a grinder. Do not hesitate to destroy the cables. It is recommended to remove everything so that you can solder the cables from the phonesync-cable directly to the pins.

+

−

+

−

==== If you have bought the part directly ====

+

−

Just open the metal-case and use a grinder to make it look like the picture above. You won`t have to remove any glue or cables.

+

−

+

−

== Checking the cable/plug ==

+

−

Best with a Voltmeter. To go completely safe test from the pins for the yellow (TX) + orange (RX) wires. The green one + shield (GND) can be tested from the pin on the other side.

+

−

{|

+

|-

|-

||

||

Line 117:

Line 111:

|-

|-

| style="border:solid 1px white"|

| style="border:solid 1px white"|

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| style="border:solid 1px white"|Power (3.3V)*

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| style="border:solid 1px white"|Power (3.3V)* (VCC)

|-

|-

| style="border:solid 1px white"|Green + shield

| style="border:solid 1px white"|Green + shield

| style="border:solid 1px white"|Ground (GND)

| style="border:solid 1px white"|Ground (GND)

|}

|}

−

||[[Image:Serial_cable_LS_Pro_glueing_the_eurocard_piece.JPG|400px]]

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||[[Image:Phone_sync_cables_soldered_to_the_connector.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Solder the phone sync cable to the USB-plug]]

|}

|}

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(in this case from on top of the profilic chip).

+

(in this case from on top of the prolific chip from this article: [[Use a cheap phone sync cable with the serial port]]).

== Using superglue ==

== Using superglue ==

−

[[Image:Serial_cable_LS_Pro_gluing_eurocard_2_connector.JPG|200px]]

+

{|

−

[[Image:Serial_cable_LS_Pro_glueing_the_eurocard_piece.JPG|200px]]

+

|-

+

||

+

[[Image:Serial_cable_LS_Pro_gluing_eurocard_2_connector.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Attach spacer material to bottom of USB plug with superglue]]

Introduction

What you can do with serial access

At first: check serial access
In fact you can control the UBoot Bootloader.

You can change to EM Mode at will without any dirty tricks.

One can get diagnostic information from the boot process or while using the Buffalo Updater, and use this to troubleshoot and fix an otherwise unrecoverable box

You can look at the linux system of your LS pro without having to flash any custom firmware

You can load a kernel + ramdisk via tftp

Hey! We connect it because we can!

Serial access isn`t that important for users, but it is very important for developers because they
exactly see what is happening while the LS Pro boots.
The kernel log tells us a little more about the hardware and it allows us to debug a newer kernel.
Without serial that is not possible.

Why it is easy to gain serial access on the LS Pro

Pin

Signal

1

Transmit (TX)

2

Receive (RX)

3

Power (3.3V)*

4

Ground (GND)

Pinout - Ground is on the Right side with the board flipped over like this

Front side of Board shows pinout assignments

Inside of case showing opening/slot for serial port access

Serial access on KuroBoxPro

Find the unpopulated header CN6. The pins TXD, RXD, VCC and GND pins are marked. You can solder on a 4-pin header and use a TTL-232R-3V3. See next section.

The Serial Converter

The serial port signals from the processor are only 3.3V. For proper RS-232 12V signaling, an RS-232 level shifter needs to be added. These are very common in PDA serial cables also, but can be purchased

Models other than KuroPro

If you are attaching a serial header pin onto the main board, you may want to consider:

Using the header pin unit with a 90 degree bend, or you might not be able to close the case

Soldering it with the pins toward the interior, rather than toward the case. This allows easier access, since if the pins face the case side they would be very close to the metal side. This would make access is so tight that one might end up taking the board out to get plug fitted on the pins.

Solder the 4-pin header to the board. Make sure you don't have shorts.

You will need to switch wires on the TTL-232R-3V3 cable. Use a sharp object to lift the plastic tabs and carefully pull the wires out. Rearrange them according to the table above (black, empty, orange, yellow, empty, empty) and slide those wires back in. Tape the other wires to make sure they don't short anything.

When plugging in the cable, make sure black aligns with GND, yellow with TXD, and orange with RXD.

Connect the USB cable to your computer, start a terminal program with the right settings.

Turn on the device, you should see output from the bootloader in couple seconds.

Using a USB Plug to form a friction-fit connector (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Pin Header

I blew out a fuse on my KuroBoxPro by using this method, consider soldering in a pin header instead Ramuk 18:13, 18 August 2007 (CEST) Epilogue- We have seen a 2nd case of frictions pins leading to a fuse-blowing short. The friction-fit method seems to have some consistent risks!TimSmall 14:03, 13 April 2008 (CDT) Third case... The contact spacing for USB plug are not quite the same as for the Linkstation Serial port, also the width isn't quite the same, so it's easy to short pin-to-pin or pin-to-chassis.. I soldered the serial wires direct to the board instead...

From the outset, consider using the more secure method, such as soldering a standard or angled 4-pin header instead of the friction-fit method. We now have two well documented cases of this method leading to a blown fuse.

You will need an old USB-plug (Female, Type A). I used two from USB-extender-cables and the rest from female-USB-connectors that i directly ordered in a shop.

You will also need something as thick as 1 mm. This can be wood, plastic or the latest flyers you collected by going out at the weekend. We used a Eurocard which we broke in Pieces (4 rows * 9 holes)

Prepare the USB-Plug

Regardless of which way you use, you will have to make the usb-plastic part a little smaller....you also will have to get rid of all parts so that it looks like the next picture.

Prepare the USB-Plug

If you are using one from an extender cable

Best would be to use a grinder. Do not hesitate to destroy the cables. It is recommended to remove everything so that you can solder the cables from the phonesync-cable directly to the pins.

If you have bought the part directly

Just open the metal-case and use a grinder to make it look like the picture. You won`t have to remove any glue or cables.

Checking the cable/plug

Best with a Voltmeter. To go completely safe test from the pins for the yellow + orange wires. The green one + shield can be tested from the pin on the other side.

Solder the phone sync cable to the USB-plug

You will have both read and write access if you solder it that way.

In this picture: Green is GND, Yellow is RX (as in "data entering the LSPro") and Orange is TX (as in "data coming from the LSPro"). The not connected terminal is VCC.

When connecting a modified USB type-A female plug like the one shown here to a purchased USB/TTL level adapter,
note that the YELLOW cable shown here (RX = data to be received by the LSPro) connects to the TXD cable (= data transmitted from the attached computer's serial/USB port) which is ORANGE in the recommended TTL-232R-3V3 cable from FTDI, and LSPro TX (ORANGE here) connects to RXD (YELLOW) from the USB/Serial port of the attached computer. (Connecting yellow to yellow and orange to orange gives no signal!) Note that the cable supplied with the SCON-KIT/PRO for the Kurobox/Pro has a crossover of its white and red RX/TX cables so the TX pin at one end connects to the RX pin at the other.

Using superglue

Attach spacer material to bottom of USB plug with superglue

Finished adapter plug

Software Installation

Change kernelmon script (if needed)

Non Stock Firmware users should modify a line in the the /usr/local/sbin/kernelmon script: "cat /proc/driver/kernevnt" to "cat /proc/buffalo/kernevnt"
This is to avoid endless errors in your terminal connection about not being able to write to /proc/driver/kernevnt